Kingdom Hearts: Memories of a Wildcard
by bamafelix
Summary: Sequel to Kingdom Hearts: Falling Star. After traveling through a strange light, Minato ends up at the strange place known as Castle Oblivion. Upon arriving, he loses memories of his many friends. The only way to regain them and maybe even save his friends is to traverse the phenomenon, Castle Oblivion, where to lose is to find and to find is to lose...until the rules were changed.
1. Chapter 1: Castle Oblivion

**Here we go! Chain of memories. Note the following is a prologue up to the little chapter title.**

**PS: Be sure to vote on my poll!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except OC's I may or may not come up with.**

_Once upon a time,_

_all of the worlds existed separately._

_Separated by walls in order to to protect the the world order._

_Because of these walls, many of these worlds had no knowledge of the other's existence._

_Four children, one with no idea who he was, wished to go and see a world different from their own._

_Then one day, everything changed with the arrival of the darkness. The darkness began to consume these worlds.  
_

_Two boys were selected as the hopes for these worlds' survival._

_One: The kind boy known as Sora._

_The other: The amnesiac islander, Minato Arisato._

_Both boys traveled to many different worlds, meeting new friends and facing new enemies who sought to destroy them._

_As Minato's journey continued, he began finding bits and pieces of who he was, even reconnecting with a girl he once loved._

_It was not to be as a dark force kidnapped the only family he once had in his past life._

_Soon after saving her, they were once again separated in the darkness where Minato found someone he thought friend._

_After meeting up with his friends once more, they traveled to the world of Hollow Bastion to save their friends and loved ones, and end this battle._

_Sadly, it was not so simple._

_The very people they had come to save had been lost to the darkness. Minato's friend was false. He also lost the girl he loved although while a piece of her remained in a new form.  
_

_The ones who possessed them had managed to open the final keyhole using the Seven Princesses of Heart._

_They managed to save Minato's sister and defeat Riku's possessor, but at the cost of Riku's heart being removed from his body and thrown into the Realm of Darkness._

_After sealing the final keyhole, our heroes went off to fight the final battle. Minato...he had his own battle._

_To fight the enemy he once thought defeated._

_Once they arrived at the final world, Minato was separated from his friends and forced into the Realm of Darkness._

_There he faced his own darkness for the last time._

_At first it seemed defeat was assured,_

_but thanks to the sacrifice of a dear friend and sharing her heart with him, he was able to triumph over the darkness._

_His battle was not yet over.  
_

_He and Riku had to help Sora close the door of Kingdom Hearts from their side, allowing King Mickey and Sora to seal the door once and for all and end the battle._

_Assured that his sister would return home and their friend Kairi would be safe, Minato watched as he and his party were trapped in the Realm of Darkness._

_They soon began their search for another door to the light only to be separated not that much later._

_Alone, Minato continued to search for his friends as well as a way home._

_While traversing the darkness, he is engulfed by an incredible light.  
_

_What lays beyond the light is unknown._

_All that can be realized is that Minato's journey continues..._

**Chapter 1:**

**Castle Oblivion**

Minato rubbed his eyes as the bright light finally vanished. He looked around and he found himself on a winding path.

Not too far in the distance was a sight that might make most ordinary people's jaws drop. The castle's architecture was very remarkable with its tower's tops an interesting isosceles triangle and a noticeable monster with horns on the center of the castle. The castle was also joined by two smaller parts of it on small floating islands.

Minato whistled. "Wow. They must have one Hell of a Halloween party." He looked around him and noticed no path as it seemed to vanish in the night.

_What do you think we should do?_

_"..."_

_Hello?_

_"Hm? What?"_

_Something wrong?_

_"Um...No. I don't think so. Something about this place...it feels..."_

_Familiar? You just confuse me more and more with each passing second.  
_

_"It doesn't take much to do that, now does it?"_

_Watch it!_

Their mental conversation quickly strayed off topic. It was about an hour later when Minato felt the ground shake violently, forcing him to his knees.

_"Are you alright?!"_

_You...you didn't feel that shockwave?_ There was a brief silence that told Minato that she was confused.

_"What shockwave? You were just standing there and you fell to your knees."_

_I...What?_ Minato turned back to the castle. "Well, what should we do about this situation?"

_"Well, when in doubt, go on in the big, creepy castle."_

Minato sighed. "I thought so. Shall we go in then?" They approached the doors of the castle and entered.

* * *

Somewhere on the upper floors of the castle, Naminé continued to fix Sora's memories. This was when she felt someone enter the castle.

She was immediately startled. The Organization shouldn't have come so soon. Why were they here? It took her a few moments to realize that the person who entered had a heart and immediately began to wonder who it was.

She wanted to go see who it was, but she had to keep working on restoring Sora's memories.

"I have to hurry."

"That won't be necessary. Consider him a 'temporarily suspended project'." Naminé turned to see a man in a black coat. She jumped. He held up his hands. "Do not be afraid."

She quickly stood up and held her arms out to keep him from reaching Sora's pod. "What do you want?"

"Your assistance for just a while, my dear witch. Oh," he vanished. Before Naminé could react, she was pushed forward by an unseen force. She sat up to see the cloaked man holding a familiar weapon against the pod. "and if I wanted to end this boy, I would've done it by now."

Naminé slowly stood up. "What do you want?" she reiterated.

"The intruder who just entered the castle...I wish to test him."

"I mean what do you want from me?"

"I require your abilities for a time. Do not worry. Unlike Marluxia, while lacking a heart, I do have something resembling a conscience. I do not require you change or erase his memories permanently so I can use him. As long as you cooperate, no one should be harmed. I only need to test that boy in order to assure myself of something. The reason I need your help is because I do not possess the ability to create cards from his memories."

Naminé seemed unsure of whether or not to trust this person, but then she noticed something. Something about the way he spoke. It was so sad. And every threatening move he made seemed reluctant. She wondered just what he really wanted. She knew it would be impossible that he had any real emotions unless...

"Just who are you?"

The black coat tapped his chin. "I suppose it's fair I introduce myself." He pulled back his hood. "I am..."

* * *

Minato looked around at the room he was in after he entered the strange castle. It was absolutely white in the room

When Minato says absolutely, he means ABSOLUTELY white. The statues, the columns, the floors, EVERYTHING...well, except for the strange door on the other side of the room.

Minato rubbed his temples. "If I stare at the room too long, I think I'm gonna get a headache." He continued to look at his surroundings for anything that might've showed a sign that anyone was here. "The people must be on break or something."

_What do you think we should do?_

_"Isn't obvious? Go through the door and continue on."  
_

_Isn't it a little rude to just intrude in someone's castle and just explore it.  
_

_"Hasn't stopped you before."_

_Touche, voice. Touche. Alright, alright. I'm going. Should probably shut the do-  
_

Minato immediately jumped as he saw the person wearing a black coat standing in front of the closing door. He summoned his keyblade which had for some reason reverted to the form of Metal Chocobo. He couldn't help the feeling that he somehow dropped something.

"Welcome to the castle." The person greeted. "What you dropped...were your memories."

Minato was taken aback. "Wh-What? Wait a minute. You're a nobody, aren't you?! What do you want?"

He seemed unfazed by Minato's accusations.

"Well? Answer me!" The person didn't respond. "Maybe a little Strike Raid will loosen your tongue." Minato threw his keyblade, which the Nobody barely leaned to the side to avoid it. The keyblade didn't, however, boomerang its way back to Minato's hand.

"What?!" He quickly summoned it manually. "Why can't I use Strike Raid?!"

The Nobody shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? The moment you stepped into this castle, you began to forget. You've forgotten most of you abilities and spells."

Minato grabbed the sides of his face. "Dodge Roll is just a somersault now?!"

"Like I'd know." Although it appeared that question made his sweat drop. "The forgetting does not end there. In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find...or something like that. I kinda changed the rules a little so I don't know. Point is, you've lost some of your memories. Now that we've-what are you doing?" He noticed Minato counting something on his fingers.

"...8, 9, 10. Yep I'm good. As long as I can remember to count, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Would you pay attention?! I really hate to repeat myself! As I was saying, in this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find...something like that."

"Um...you kinda just repeated yourself."

"I thought you weren't listening!" Minato shrugged. The Nobody cleared his throat and regained his previous mysterious composure. "This is the way of Castle Oblivion. To lose is to find and to find is to lose."

_He keeps saying that and I have no clue if he's doing it on purpose..._

Minato frowned. "Castle...Oblivion?"

"Here you will meet people you know. People you miss." Minato's eyes widened.

"You mean Sora and Riku might be here?! What about the king?!" The Nobody sighed.

"Can't you feel them? If you want to meet them-" The Nobody quickly ran at Minato, somehow actually phasing through him. Flashes of his memories ran through his mind. His life at Gekkoukan. His life on the island. His friends. His closer friends. Everything up to the point of sealing the door known as Kingdom Hearts.

Minato quickly turned to the Nobody. Before, Minato could've sworn he knew him before, but now he feels like a complete stranger. "What did you do?"

"I sampled your memories or something along those lines." He then threw a card to Minato which Minato caught.

"What is this?"

"I made it from your memories." replied the Nobody. "It's the promise of a reunion. All you have to do is hold it before the door and a new world will lay beyond. Use it and press on...second hero of the keyblade."

Minato frowned. "Why should I? I could easily just walk straight back out that door if I wanted to. I don't even know if I can trust you about whether the others are here."

Still unfazed, the Nobody continues. "Unless you wish to never again remember your friends, I suggest you continue onward."

"What was that?! As if I could forget my friends!"

"Tell me then. What are the names of your three friends from your island?" Minato laughed.

"That's easy. They're..." Minato's eyes widened. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember the names of the three people who gave him a home on the island and became his first friends since he was freed from the seal. Even their faces were a little foggy in his mind. "What did you do to me!?"

"It's like I said. Once you entered this place, you dropped your memories. Each floor you ascend will be just a few more memories you regain."

Minato glared at the Nobody. "Just what do you want? Why are you doing this?" The Nobody didn't answer. Instead, he opened a portal of darkness behind him and stepped back into it. Minato clenched his fist.

_Damn it!_

_"...It appears only one option is left to us. We must ascend to the top of the castle if we wish to help you regain your memories."_

_Good thing I don't know your name anyway. Can't forget something I don't know...Speaking of which. Now will you-  
_

_"No."_

_Fine._ Minato sighed. That was normally where that line of questioning ended. He walked over to the big door at the end of the hall and pulled the card the Nobody had given him and held it out in front of him. The card vanished in a small light and the door slowly opened to reveal another bright light.

Minato looked back at the exit. He shook his head.

_Safety isn't worth my memories or my friends. I'll plunge deep into the depths of Hell if it means I can find them._

With that, he ran through the door.

The Nobody appeared shortly after the door closed behind him. "The further you go, the more you understand. To find is to lose and to lose is to find-DAMN IT! I said it again!" He shook his head shortly before vanishing.

* * *

Naminé felt extremely horrible about what she'd done to that boy. It was bad enough she twisted and manipulated Sora but...

She lost her train of thought as the same person as before appeared.

"How could you do such a thing?" She accused. The Nobody didn't respond. "You said he wouldn't-"

"Lose his memories PERMANENTLY. At the end of each floor, I have placed something that will jog a bit of his memories at a time. All you did was temporarily bury them. If you feel any sorrow over this, this is my responsibility and you are free to feel that I am the one who is doing this to him."

"Don't worry. I do." she spat out at him. She disliked this person. The main reason was because she couldn't quite figure out why he was doing this. He said that it was to test the blue-haired teen, but she didn't know why.

"Just watch and wait. Let's see how he does during this test." Naminé sat at the table and watched the boy, Minato, through the orb the other Nobody had placed on the table for them.

She could only hope that Minato was successful.

**Done! This is the introduction chapter of the story. Let's get this straight: This takes place after Riku and Sora are all done with their stuff and a mysterious Nobody is forcing ****Naminé to bury his memories for some sort of test. What lays in Minato's near future? Only fate will decide.**

**Thanks for the reads and reviews!**

**Bye-Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Trip Down Memory Lane

**Here we go! I'm trying to work on the next chapter of Unstable Morality, but just...just can't be done. I know what I want to write but I can't make myself do it. So I'll hold off on that for a bit.  
**

**Oh yeah. Let's get something straight. If it weren't for _Bboy46_ (who has an awesome Persona and Bleach crossover by the way) this chapter would never have been finished. This one's for you, buddy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except OC's.**

**Chapter 2:**

**A Trip Down Memory Lane  
**

Minato's eyes widened. After he had walked through the incredibly bright door, he had ended up in a rather familiar town.

The lampposts around seemed awfully familiar and there were several shops within the nearby area. Minato scratched his head.

_Traverse Town? Never thought I'd see this place again.  
_

_"Really?"_

_No. I was sure at some point in the future I would see the twinkling lights of this dump._

_"Rather rude way to describe a place, don't you think?"_

_I suppose..._

He tapped his foot on the ground as he looked back to the gate behind him. "So, before I was in a castle, but now I'm here...What do I do now? That Nobody didn't give very clear instructions."

_"I suggest you just walk around. There isn't much else to do."_

Minato tapped his chin this time. "I don't know...might as well goof off. That's what I normally do and the bad guys just end up finding ME rather than the other way around."

_"Technically, the bad guys find you and use your sister as bait, but other than that..."_

"Yeah yeah. I get it." He then proceeded to wander the first district. "What to do. Well...I never actually explored the town..."

After several moments, Minato let out a sigh of pure boredom. "No wonder I never stuck around for longer than an hour. This place is SO boring!"

_"Find a way to entertain yourself then!"_ came the voice's annoyed reply.

Minato sighed once more. He looked at the sign that said 'Diner'. "Well, I never actually ate at that place." Before the voice could say a single thing, Minato ran over to the diner and took a table. He examined the rather meager menu. "Now what to get..."

_"Is your stupid stomach all you can think about?"_

_Hey! Were you the one traversing the Realm of Darkness with no rations whatsoever and on an empty stomach?! NO! I don't think so! So shut up and let me eat some goddamn food!_

_"...Go ahead dumbass. Eat yourself into a coma if I care."  
_

Minato sighed. "Let's see...Now where's that waiter?" Minato looked around. After a few seconds, he tensed. Every last candle in the restaurant suddenly went out.

He backflipped out of his seat and just barely landed outside the restaurant as a fair amount of Heartless fell from the ceiling, covering the seat he would've been in_. _Inside Minato's head, the voice was having a good ol' time laughing at him.

"Alright! Alright! Yuk it up! But you're about to see how a REAL keyblade master kicks some serious ass!" Minato was about to charge when the Heartless all leaped at him. He tried to swing, but something felt wrong. He managed to block some of the Heartless, but he was eventually knocked backward onto the ground.

His keyblade flew from his hands as he struggled to get from under the Heartless.

_Wha-Why can't I move my body like I want?! I can't even use any spells!_

He then heard a rather familiar voice with an aura of 'badass' surrounding it. "Those Heartless are persistent. They're showing up even here." Minato froze as he felt a short spike in energy not too far from where he laid. The owner of the voice swung some sort of weapon and Minato felt all of the Heartless on top of him be reduced to shadow mist. Minato stood up and brushed himself off.

"Catch." Minato reacted immediately and caught his keyblade that was thrown to him. He turned to see a somehow familiar person.

He looked about 25. He had neck length brown hair. He had a diagonal scar on his face. He wore a small leather jacket and a white shirt underneath it. He also wore leather pants with several belts around it. He wore leather gloves on both hands and leather straps on only one of them. He also wore black shoes. He had a total "bad-ass" aura surrounding him.

"At least learn to hold your sword." Minato's eye twitched.

_Oh yeah?! Well screw you, man...Is what I would say if I wasn't sure he could kick my ass._

_"(Coughs) Wuss!"_

_Shut up! I don't hear you volunteering to say something!_

_"I'm a disembodied being inside your heart. What CAN I do?"  
_

_Exactly. So shut it._

Minato then turned to the familiar looking man. An epic staredown occurred between the two.

"Can I help you?"

Minato tapped his foot on the ground. "Yeah. You can tell me where we met before cos you seem kinda familiar." The man appeared to be confused. He eventually shook his head.

"Sorry. You must have me mistaken with someone else. I've never met you before." Minato thought about this a bit longer. He then turned to leave.

"If you say so, Leon." Both of them froze.

"How do you know my name?" Leon asked. Minato turned to face him and opened his mouth to speak.

"...I have no idea. The name just popped into my head." But the more he thought about the name, the more familiar it sounded. Minato tried something. "I remember...we fought together one time, didn't we?"

Leon shook his head. "If we did, no doubt you would slow me down." Minato was tempted to punch this guy. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Minato." Minato pointed his finger.

"Aha! So you DO know me!"

Leon shook his head. "I really don't remember you, but my memory's..." He then had a thinking expression on his face.

_Any idea what's going on? I know I somehow know this Leon guy, but I can't quite remember how. Why do I recognize the world, but barely recognize the inhabitants?_

_"It might have something to do with what that cloaked guy said about your memories. We might still be inside the castle."_

_So that would explain why me and Leon don't really remember one another._

"Hey, it's you!" came another familiar voice. Standing not too far away was a girl with short, black hair and who wore a metal headband with two green tassels. She wore a yellow scarf, a green tube top with two blue belts holding it up, tan short-shorts with another loose, blue belt around her waist, white socks that reach about mid-thigh, orange shoes, and mesh sleeves on her arms that disappeared into orange, fingerless gloves with black bands constricting the ends.

Minato somehow recognized this girl faster than he did Leon. "Hey, Yuffie!" Leon looked from one to the other.

"Do you two know each other?"

"Nope." Both replied. Minato sighed.

"I know I know you two from somewhere, but I just can't...Damn it!" Yuffie pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't feel so bad about it. If you recognize us, that's a good thing."

"Huh?" She smiled in a way that Minato found both cute and adorable.

"Cos even if our minds don't remember, our hearts do." Minato thought about this. He bit his lower lip.

"I think I know why we don't have any memories of one another." Both Leon and Yuffie raised an eyebrow. Minato sighed. "We might want to find a place more private. It's a bit of a story."

* * *

They had all gathered in the house in the Third District along with Cid and Aerith. Minato explained his story of entering Castle Oblivion and somehow ending up here.

"...so I ended up going through the door the man in black told me to go through the door and I just ended up back in Traverse Town." Minato leaned against the wall. "It's rather annoying. I remember the town and your names, but I can't remember specific events that occurred. It's like a big blank."

There was a brief silence. "So this man in black is the reason we can't remember how we know one another," stated Aerith. "but the reason we can still somehow remember is because our memories are resonating with yours."

Leon opened his eyes as he left his state of thinking. "So that's the reason we know things we shouldn't?"

Aerith nodded. "Apparently the place Minato came from, this Castle Oblivion, made his memories very powerful."

Minato nodded. "Makes sense. But my memories aren't the only reason I'm here." Everyone turned toward him. "I'm looking for my friends...S...Ri...Mic...I" Minato tapped his foot impatiently. "...I can't remember their names...but I know they're somewhere here or further into the castle." Aerith stood up and everyone got to their feet.

"We'll help you." offered Leon. "If they're somewhere in town, we'll find them."

"You can count on us!" said Yuffie, fist-pumping. Cid and Aerith smiled. Minato just stared. He was sure his eyes were close to watering by that point.

These people don't really remember who he is, yet they're willing to help him find his friends.

Minato grinned. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

They then began their long, arduous search across the town for Minato's unknown friends. Along the way, they ran into some Heartless, but Leon managed to help Minato retrain in using the keyblade a bit. He also picked up a few bits of magic from the experience. A good sign.

After a good hour, they all met up in the First District.

Minato sighed. "I guess they're not here...but I know they're still somewhere within the castle. I'll just have to keep on looking."

Leon shook his head. "So a reality we can't see..."

Yuffie let out a sigh of disappointment. "Sorry we couldn't be of much help." Minato smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I can feel it within my heart. I know they're somewhere nearby. I just have to keep searching."

Then the ground shook rather violently. Everyone looked around for the source of the quake. Minato stumbled before falling to his feet as his entire being tensed. The shaking lasted for several minutes before it finally stopped.

"What was that?" asked Yuffie. Minato got to his feet, sighing.

"A Heartless. And it's a big one."

"How do you know that?"

Minato shrugged. "I have the weird ability to sense darkness. It comes in handy from time to time." He then turned toward the door that led to the Third District. "It's just beyond that door." Leon hefted his gunblade over his shoulder.

"We'll back you up." Minato shook his head, smiling.

"Don't worry about it. I can handle whatever gets thrown at me." With that, Minato ran through the door.

* * *

Minato looked around, but had yet to see any sign of the Heartless.

"Now, if I was a heartless, where would I be?" Minato spoke out loud as he started walking around the Third District. There was nothing here, not even regular heartless.

_"Seems like someone or someTHING scared them off."_

_ That's a very worrying thought._

Minato replied to the disembodied voice before he saw a flash of pink ascending to the door to the First District to which Minato immediately chased after.

_"This could be a trap." _The voice warned, but Minato wasn't listening.

He felt something from whatever he saw, something familiar and he intended to find out what. As he approached the door to the First District, he felt a bright light behind him. Turning around, Minato saw that the door to the house where he had passed earlier was glowing brightly.

_"This is definitely a trap. I don't think you should go." _The voice warned again.

_Yeah? Well, I will gladly take your advice with a grain of salt._

_"...What?"_

Walking to the front of the door, Minato noticed that it looked different. Half the door was blue with the other pink and a large, black heart in between. Taking a deep breath, Minato opened the door and entered.

"Hello?" Minato said as he walked inside and instantly realized that this wasn't the house. First of all, it looked more like a bedroom. Second of all, there was so much pink everywhere that it was obviously a girl's room to Minato. A woman with brown hair and wearing a pink sweater was standing in front of Minato with her back turned, staring at the wall as if she didn't notice Minato.

"Excuse me?" Minato tried to get the woman's attention.

_"Something doesn't seem right."_

_No, really?!_

The woman gave a sickening smile as her glowing yellow eyes illuminated the now darkening room.

**"How sweet, my hero's come to rescue me."**

"What?" Was the only thing Minato could say.

**"Oh, how I've waited for someone to help me. After all, I can't take care of myself. All I do is whine about my dead father and mother who copes by sleeping with others."**

More memories came to Minato of the same woman telling him about what the heartless just said, but in a lot less cruel way.

**"Then came my hero Minato."** The heartless clasped her hands and brought them to the side of her face and looked off dreamily. **"He has suffered the most like I had, he could understand, he could save me, but he wouldn't." **At that the heartless brought her hands to her side and looked angrily at Minato.

"Huh?" Minato started getting a massive headache as memories of the brunette complaining about her issues come to his mind.

**"But I don't blame him."** The heartless was grinning again, and not in a nice way.** "I can't do anything myself. I'm just like my mom, clinging to others for support. No wonder Minato chose a stinking robot over me."**

"That's not tr-" Minato tried to deny what the heartless said, but got hit with more memories of the brunette arguing with a blonde woman over the tiniest of things. The intense onslaught of the memories forced Minato to his knees.

**"It's the truth Minato. This is what I am to you. This is how you remember me!"** The heartless was now stepping forward towards Minato holding an arrow in her hand like a knife. She raised her arm ready to strike.

"No, that's not true!" Minato shouted, catching the heartless off guard.

**"What?!"**

"Yes, I remember there were times that she did nothing but complain, but she changed." Minato said as he stood up straight. More memories came back to him of the girl and how she stood independently. "She became able to stand on her own, to prove that she can struggle through and I was there to help her. She was stronger than that! I might not remember her name, but I know you're not how I remember her!"

The heartless' face turned into one of disgust and as she brought her hands to face and shrieked. Cracks seeping out darkness started to appear and spread through the bedroom as it began to shake. Minato then saw that the same kind of cracks were appearing across the heartless' body.

**"Die!"** The heartless' shouted as a powerful gust of wind blasted Minato out of the bedroom as it shattered into oblivion.

"Woah!" Minato said as he got blasted over the edge and onto the lower level of the Third District. Looking up, Minato saw a storm cover the once clear sky of Traverse Town. Suddenly a large tornado came down. However, it soon dissipated and the heartless took the tornado's place.

_"What did I-"_

_Shut up!_

Its skin was now an inky black with a larger version of the pink sweater as the only clothing left on it. The heartless was levitating with its legs crossed as wind whisked around her. She was also wearing a helmet that had wings sprouting from the sides and two horns on top that go in before curving out with a jewel containing the heartless symbol resting between the horns.

"Finally decided to show your true form huh?" Minato said as he summoned his keyblade.

**"This is the form you chose for me, to remember me by! This is how you thought of me!"** The heartless responded, trying to break Minato's resolve.

"Enough of your tricks!" Minato shouted back as he launched a blizzard spell at the heartless. The heartless responded by raising its right arm and brought it down. A large gust of wind caused the ice spell to go completely off course.

**"Feel my pain!"** The heartless said she brought both hands together and the jewel above started to glow. Minato tried to get out of the way, but the jewel launched a massive storm of green wind launching Minato into the air before he crashed down to the ground.

"Well, that smarks." Minato said as he slowly got up, panting.

**"Farewell."** It said before a bow and arrow appeared in her hands. She took aim and launched the arrow which was surrounded in a cloak of wind. Minato raised his keyblade to strike it down, but knew that he couldn't dodge or block the attack.

""MINATO!"" Said person heard a man and woman shout as he saw a giant shuriken hit the arrow. It didn't stop it, but the arrow started to waver. Leon then appeared in front of Minato and struck the arrow. The two forces battle against each other before Leon manages to knock the arrow away.

"You alright?" Leon asked not looking away from the heartless, who was VERY angry over her failed deathblow. Yuffie then shortly appeared beside Minato and healed him up nice and easy.

"Leon!? Yuffie!?" Minato said, surprised. Although there was nothing but gratitude in his voice. "What are you doing here!?"

"Traverse Town doesn't get rough weather." Leon simply said.

"Yeah, so when we saw a storm circling over the Third District, we knew you were in trouble." Yuffie said with a carefree smile before turning serious and facing the heartless.

"We might not fully remember you Minato, but you're still our friend." Leon said preparing for an attack.

Minato tried to say something, but no words came. He just smiled and raised his keyblade to attack.

**"How dare you aid him!"** The heartless said as it fired blasts of wind at the trio, but Yuffie threw a smoke bomb down and all of them were gone by the time the wind cut through the smoke.

"I don't think this is a heartless we can take head on." Minato said as the three of them took cover behind the stair's railings to make a plan. They could all hear the heartless scream in frustration.

"I agree, but damn, this heartless really doesn't like you Minato." Yuffie said.

"I have to agree, it's quite shocking how this heartless is displaying such anger." Leon said quietly as the heartless started sending blasts of wind in random places trying to flush them out.

"Shocking…" Minato said as a short memory came of the girl getting knocked down by electricity and then the thought bubble inside his head that said 'Duh!'. "I think I know its weakness." Minato said.

"Well we're all ears Minato." Yuffie said.

"Okay, here's the plan." Minato said, but not before looking at the swirling mass of dark cloud

* * *

"You sure?" Leon asked.

"Positive... sort of." Minato said, not as confident as Leon hoped.

"Well it's better than nothing." Yuffie said as Leon sighed.

"Ok, let's do this!" Minato said as he jumped from cover. "Hey, over here!" Minato shouted.

The heartless instantly turned around and fired a blast of wind towards Minato. Minato quickly moved out of the way and pointed his keyblade at the heartless.

"Thunder!" Minato shouted as a bolt of yellow lightning shot at the heartless, stunning it completely. Even though it was a level one spell, the attack did a lot of damage.

** "So you remembered how to injure me?! Are you happy at that!?"**

"At the moment...yes." Minato replied before firing Thunder a couple more times at the heartless, stopping it from attacking.

"Even if I'm weak against Thunder, it will take more than that to kill me!"

"I know." Minato said as he pointed up. The heartless did so and saw large amounts of lighting moving through the storm she created.

** "What?!"**

Leon and Yuffie appeared beside Minato, both magically drained.

"When this is over, you're buying me an ether." Yuffie said, tired from her and Leon shouting blasts of thunder spells into the clouds above one after another.

"I'll actually take an elixir." Leon said, displaying his rare moments of humor.

"Deal." Minato said as he raised his keyblade towards the thunderstorm in the sky."All-Out Attack! Thunder Storm Combo!"

As if heeding a call, a giant blast a blue lightning came down onto Minato's keyblade charging it with a giant boost of electrical power.

The heartless screamed and sent large gusts of wind towards the smiling Minato.

"Thunder Raid!" Minato declared as he hurled his keyblade at the heartless, cutting through the wind as it impaled straight into the chest of the heartless, electrocuting it from the inside-out.

The heartless gave one final scream before exploding into a cloud of dark mist. All that was left was a glowing sphere of white and pink.

"What's that?" Yuffie asked, but Minato ignored her as he walked forward, as if beckoned by the sphere.

Minato held out his hands as the sphere dispersed, letting an item fall down into Minato's hands. Looking at it, Minato saw it was some kind of strap. Suddenly, a new wave of memories washes over Minato, but unlike last time, it felt welcoming as he completely remembered the time he shared with the woman whose name he finally remembers.

"Yukari…" Minato says as he looks up into the now clear sky. The strap began to glow before merging with Minato.

"You OK, Minato?" Yuffie asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

Minato snapped out of his daze and faced the ninja girl. Yukari wasn't the only person he had been able to truly remember. "Yuffie!" Before Yuffie could react, Minato wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against hers. At first, Yuffie's face was filled with both shock and surprise, but then it gave way to bliss as she was lost to his passion.

_"Awwww! How romantic!" _Something told Minato she was actually being serious.

_What? You're...serious right now?_

_"Of course! I never joke about love! Anyway, get back to kissing that girl!"  
_

_Err...right?_

Minato held the kiss for several minutes before Leon cleared his throat. Minato quickly pulled away, blushing. Yuffie blinked several times as her face turned a deep shade of red. She opened her mouth to say something...and then fell back into unconsciousness. Minato could've sworn there were hearts in her eyes.

"I'm wondering what that was exactly." Leon said.

Minato scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I kinda got a little carried away, Leon."

"I see." He stated simply. Something told Minato that Leon knew what just happened. "Anyway, by all rights, that thing was a heartless and certainly wasn't a pureblood. However, instead of releasing a heart, released an item which gave you back memories of us and someone else. It's almost as if the heartless was formed not from a heart, but from your memories of the person."

"I think you're right Leon." Minato said with the two now focused on him. "Memories exist not only in the mind, but in the heart as well. When I lost my memories, it was like losing a part of my heart as well. Maybe it wouldn't be wrong to take that into a more literal meaning. It could be that Castle Oblivion transformed my lost memories into heartless, but were altered to become like the person the memories consisted of. Before the heartless changed into that Wind-Maker, it took the form of the person I now remember."

_"Wow, I'm surprised you said something so smart."_

_Zip it._

"Well, going by that logic, it's only a matter of time before your other memories become heartless also and then there's a good chance they'll come after you. Given that they were once a part of your heart, they'll probably try to claim the rest of it." Leon said.

"Well I better work fast." Minato said.

"Leaving already?" Yuffie pouted, finally waking from her passion-induced coma.

"Yeah, you're not the only ones I forgotten and not the only ones I want to remember." Minato said. "Besides, my memories might rampage and hurt others. I couldn't afford to let that happen."

"Understandable." Leon said. "But first, you owe me an elixir and Yuffie an ether."

"Seriously?!" Minato said in disbelief.

"Joking." Leon said, giving a small smile. Minato felt a little wary of the fact that Leon was actually smiling, but he let it go.

Minato smiled back as the three of them returned to the First District and Minato gave his farewells to Aerith and Cid.

"Come back anytime." Cid said.

"Hope to see you again." Aerith said.

Minato smiled, nodded, and waved one last time as he headed for the exit.

He looked at the door, gave one last look behind him at the town, and went on through.

* * *

Minato was in a hallway much similar to the one he had been in when he first entered Castle Oblivion.

_It's exactly the same as the last floor! Did we somehow go backwards?_

_"It might be the enemy, trying to disorient you. Be careful."  
_

_Yeah yeah yeah._

Their little mental conversation was interrupted when a familiar cloaked figure phased through him. When he appeared on the other side of Minato, he was met by a good ol' fashioned punch to the face, smashing him against the wall.

"Don't sneak up on me, jerk!"

The cloaked man's sweat dropped. "Er...sorry."

Once that was cleared up, he went on with the speech he had no doubt prepared ahead of time. "Well? Did you enjoy meeting your memor-" Another punch to the face.

Minato was glaring at him. "You took the memories of a good friend of mine and twisted them into something ugly! I don't want to hear a goddamn word out of your mouth!" His expression saddened. "And I know full well that those people were nothing but figments of my memories."

"But don't you want to see your friends?" Minato's eyes narrowed.

"I don't really have a choice since otherwise I never remember them again."

Minato couldn't be sure, but he thought the cloaked man was smirking at him. "Show me what you can do." He threw a few more cards toward Minato, who caught every single one. "Within each of those cards, lays another piece of your memory. Once you've regained every last piece, we shall meet for the final time. Until then, I'll only appear every now and then to give you a little nudge in the right direction."

"Or how about I just kick your ass right now and get all of my memories back after breaking your skull?"

Now Minato was POSITIVE the Nobody was smirking at him. "But then how will you save the other denizens within this castle?"

Minato blinked. "Other...denizens?"

"Indeed. On the other floors, I sense at least three others who once lost to the darkness and found this place. Their memories lay in ruin. If you want to help them AND yourself, I suggest you continue onward."

Minato glared at the man.

_Could it be that he's bluffing?_

_"I don't know, but considering who he is, I wouldn't put it passed him to trap others here and take their memories."_

_I guess there's not much of a choice then._

"OK, you, I'll play your little game for now, but we'll meet again on the top floor. That's where I'll kick your ass! I'm sure these 'other denizens' will want a piece too, so be prepared!"

The man nodded. "I look forward to it." With that, he faded.

Minato walked up to the door and pulled out a card resembling a rather unfamiliar world.

_Wonderland, huh? Name sounds familiar, but I don't remember many details...Oh well._

_"Shall we a go?"_

_Let's._

Minato opened the door and moved on to the next memory. Little did he know, it wouldn't exactly be his.

**DONE! I hope you enjoyed! That's right! Minato's going to run into other REAL people during his stay in Castle Oblivion! Just watch and see!  
**

**...I don't think There's really anything I have to address at this point...I suppose I should give one last thanks to _Bboy46_, without whom this chapter never would've been finished.**

**THANKS, BUDDY!**

**Thanks for the reads and reviews!**

**Bye-Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3: Minato In Wonderland

**Sorry I haven't been updating in a while, but I have been planning out my characters. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except certain OC's...oh...and for the record. I AM planning on using characters from other video games at some point. Just thought I'd warn you in advance.  
**

**Chapter 3:**

**Minato In Wonderland**

It only took Minato five seconds to run into a problem.

After he had walked through the doorway, there had been nothing but darkness. He looked around, but saw no sign that anything was there at all.

_Is it supposed to be like this?_

_"I do not know. But be on your guard. There's no telling-oh crap...there's no floor, is there?"_

Minato blinked several times at the statement before looking down and stomping his foot only to hit air.

"Uh oh." He fell.

He couldn't quite tell when, but he somehow fell unconscious somewhere along the lines.

_"And THIS is my successor?_"

* * *

"...ello...?" Minato felt someone or something poke his head. "Helloooo?" It was followed by another poke.

Minato groaned. "Urrrrrrrrrg...What?"

"Hello?" Followed by a another poke.

"I'm awake."

Another poke. "Hello?"

Minato's eyes shot open as he jumped to his feet. "WHAT?! I'M UP! I'M UP!" He looked around for the annoying person who woke him up and was in for a surprise.

He was a fairly young person, somewhere around fifteen or sixteen. He wore a long-sleeved collared shirt where the torso was black on the back and the front was a light gray and had two pockets on either side of the tie he wore around his neck. One either sleeve was a single pattern of diamonds that followed all the way to the cuffs. Other than that, he wore simple black pants. He also had black hair and blue eyes that made him seem like a stereotypical manga pretty boy. The only accessory that really stood out was the black chess piece that was pierced to his ear by what was no doubt an ear ring (kinda like those Chesspieces from MAR). He smiled.

"I see you've finally awoken, princess." Minato's eye twitched.

_Calm down, Minato. No need to kill him just because he rudely woke you up._

Rather, he tried focusing on something else. Like his surroundings. He appeared to be in a large forest with unnecessarily tall grass and GIGANTIC trees.

"Where am I?"

The teen's smile didn't fade for a moment. "OH, so you're from the OUTSIDE! That certainly is exciting!"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" The teen gave him a curious look.

"Didn't you come from that castle as well?" Minato's eyes widened. He quickly came close and pulled on the teen's face, stretching it just as much as humanly possible.

"Not to be rude, but could you NOT tear my face off?" Minato released the teen's face after confirming that he was INDEED real.

Minato decided to take it all in. "So you're...a resident of Castle Oblivion?" The teen raised an eyebrow.

"Resident? More like prisoner. All I remember was entering the castle and that's it. I walked through the big door after that cloaked guy gave me this card. I remember there was something about this place though...something important."

Minato shrugged. "I supposed it might be because this is your home world...it's most certainly a possibility."

The teen took this in stride. "I suppose. Until that point where I know for sure, I suppose I just wander around until I find more evidence of who I am." It was at that point that Minato saw the teen's smile fall as the teen became deep in thought. It made Minato feel sad for some reason.

_"You're not seriously considering this madness?!"_

_What? Why not? He seems just so depressed._

_"Why not?! WHY NOT?!...Good point. Just don't spend too much time here. We still have to find YOUR memories."_

_Duly noted...and forgotten._

_"You're a jerk sometimes, you know?"_

_It's one of my more charming qualities._

"Um...are you alright?" Minato snapped to attention as he turned back to the teen.

"Oh...it's nothing. Anyway, since we're BOTH trapped inside the castle, I figured we should help each other out with our memories. Whaddaya think?" There was nothing but silence for several minutes as the teen's expression became unintelligible. Then the teen placed his hands on both of Minato's shoulders.

He quickly looked up, looking at Minato with the blue orbs he called eyes. "YOU'RE A SAINT! A SAINT!" Large waterfalls known as tears began to pour from his eyes. Minato's sweat dropped.

* * *

It had taken Minato a few minutes to get the teen to calm down.

"I'm Minato by the way." The teen rubbed his eyes a bit as he finally finished crying.

"I'm sorry. I always end up crying like that when I'm so happy." He sniffled a few more times before composing himself. "My name's Chess." Minato had an 'OH' moment.

_"That would explain the chess piece attached to his ear."_

_Yes. I gathered._

Chess then held his hand out to Minato. "I guess this makes us friends from here on out." Minato hesitated, but shook Chess' hand. Chess grinned.

"I guess we should go look around I guess."

"Not much we can do instead." Minato and Chess started to walk around the forest. It was very quiet, with only the strange flowers asking for things like potions creating any noise.

"What do you think will happen if we give what they ask for?" Chess asked.

'Give me a potion.' A yellow flower asked.

"One way to find out." Minato said as he pulled out a potion. It was the only healing item he had on him. Given by Aerith before leaving Traverse Town.

"_That's our only solid method of healing. You sure this is a good idea?_"

_Nope._ Minato replied as he poured the poition onto the soil below the flower.

The flower's petals opened up and glowed in a white light.

'Thanks.' The flower replied before the white light started to glow around Minato as well. Minato noticed how everything around him started getting smaller.

"Hey why is everything shrinking?!" Minato exclaimed as he took a step back. By now he was ten times the size he was before.

"Idiot, you're the one who grew!"

Minato looked down and saw Chess waving his arms. Placing a hand down, Chess climbed on and Minato placed his new friend on his shoulder.

"That was so cool Minato!" Chess shouted into his larger companion's ear. "You're like, like Minato-zilla or something!"

"As much as I like the sound of that...how do I fix myself?" Minato scratched his head.

_ "Maybe you should do the opposite of what made you bigger?"_

_What makes you think that'll work. Besides, the only things my size relatively is this stump and that tree over there._

_ "First of all, since helping a plant caused you to grow, then in contrast, damaging a plant caused should cause you to shrink. Second of all, just try, will you?!"_

_Alright. Alright. Geez. Pushy._

Minato sighed and decided to try the stump first.

"What are you doing?" Chess asked, grabbing onto Minato's clothing not to fall off.

"Looking for a a way to shrink myself." Minato replied. Minato kicked the stump with nothing happening. He then placed his foot on it and noticed how easily the stump sunk into the ground. Applying more force, Minato pressed the stump all the way into the ground. A second later a giant lily pad of some sort rose out of the ground.

"Hey, look over there!" Chess shouted, pointing near the risen lily pad. Minato looked and saw a lily pad next to the other one had an opening. "That must be our way out!"

"Still a giant." Minato stated plainly. "Can't exactly fit."

_"Try the tree."_

Minato turned towards the tree. Even with his 'growth spurt,' the tree was still a good head or two taller than Minato. Minato noticed that the tree had only a single fruit on it, directly in front of Minato.

_Maybe you were kind of right._

_"Huh?"_

_Maybe what I did was give to a plant, so the opposite would be to receive._ Minato replied as he plucked the fruit from the tree.

"You think that'll shrink you?" Chess asked.

"Perhaps it will, or perhaps it'll make me grow even more. Either way, let me put you down, just in case." Minato answered as he set Chess down on the forest floor and stared at the fruit. "Well... bottoms up." With that Minato took a bite from the fruit and instantly felt the effects. He noticed everything getting larger- he was getting smaller. Soon enough he was back to his original height and standing next to Chess.

"I think we can get to the lily pads from this way." Chess said, pointing to a path that went around the large tree.

"Think I'll miss being Minato-zilla, but let's go." Minato said as they continued around the path.

_"Noticed how we haven't been attacked yet?"_

_Yeah. Is it like last time and there's something scaring them?_

_"Or they're waiting to ambush us."_

_"For this long? While ambush tactics are a part of primal instincts, heartless aren't very patient, especially if their target his a keyblade wielder."_

_Then they're being ordered to wait._

_"That's much more worrying than a simple ambush."_

"Hey, why are you so quiet?" Chess suddenly spoke, snapping the keyblade/Universe wielder out of the talk with the disembodied voice.

"Oh, I was just thinking." Minato replied. Chess raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as the two finally climbed the final lily pad and stood in front of the completely black exit from the forest.

"Well, here goes." Chess said as the two walked...and fell.

"Ouch." Minato said as he got up and looked where he was...and instantly regretted it. He was in some sort of bizarre room and realized he was small in comparison to everything else. Looking down, he noticed he was standing on a faucet that was incredibly high up.

"Um, Minato. Could you...HELP!" Chess shouted and saw he was dangling on the edge of the faucet. Minato quickly grabbed the boy and pulled him up before he could experience how painful gravity could be. He gave another quick waterworks show as he became overwhelmed with gratitude "Thanks buddy!" Minato decided to take it in stride.

"No problem, but how do we get down?" Minato asked. The only thing below them was a pot, but no soil to break their fall.

"Down? What a peculiar word." A voice said.

"Huh?" Chess said and a pink cat head suddenly appeared in front of them. "AHH!" Chess cried almost falling off if Minato didn't grab him. The cat head quickly disappeared.

"There's nothing weird about down. Down is down." Minato replied. Rule one of encountering weird things: Act like you're not bothered.

"Oh but it is weird." The voice said. Minato and Chess turned and saw the head floating above the cupboard to their right. "Just like this room." A cat body appeared, but not connected to the head. "Just like me." Arms and legs appeared and showed that the body was standing upright and holding the cat head in one hand. "And just like you." The cat head bounced off the arm and onto the body, taking full control of it.

_"No arguments with that."_

_Shush!_

"Who are you?" Minato asked, cautious of this...cat if it could be called such.

"Who am I?" The cat repeated. "Why, I am myself. But you are not you."

"What's that suppose to mean? I'm Minato."

"Yeah, and I'm Chess." Minato's strange friend added.

The cat never lost its grin as it now stood on its front paws doing a handstand. Somehow the head was still staring at them right-side-up. "Yes and no, no and yes. You are who you are but not all of you. Broken, hollow, lacking would be better names."

"Hey! We're trying to regain what we lost." Minato shouted back. He didn't like the idea of being called broken.

"Yeah. Maybe you could help us?" Chess replied timidly. The cat's actions and words were freaking him out. Minato was beginning to worry he would start crying again.

"Help you? I could, but this room could do far more than I. Here the abstract is stronger than concrete." The cat replied as parts of his body started fading away.

"Wait! What's that suppose to mean?" Minato shouted but the cat said nothing as the head vanished, but the toothy grin remained. Eventually it too vanished.

"Great, so much for help." Chess mumbled as Minato pondered the cat's words.

"What if he did help?" Minato said aloud.

"If he did, he wasn't good at it." Chess sighed.

"I think he was. He said the room will help us and that abstract is stronger than concrete here. What if... what if our belief in gravity could override actual gravity?"

"That's crazy!" Chess protested.

"That's why it'll work. Come on, it won't hurt. Just imagine that gravity is pushing us towards this wall." Minato said.

"Alright, alright." Chess said as he focused on it. A few seconds later and they felt a tugging before it become a sudden pull towards the wall behind them.

"Dammit Chess, did you really have to fall on top of me?" Minato said as he moved Chess off of himself.

"Sorry!" Chess began to have an incredibly adorable puppy dog look as tears began to pour down his cheeks. He then snapped out of it as he realized something. "But hey! It worked!" They were officially standing on the wall.

"Great. Now let's reach the floor before it decides to undo itself." Minato said as the quickly moved towards the floor. Everything was going smooth until a dark beam came into Minato's view that was heading right towards them.

"Move!" Minato shouted as he pulled Chess out of the way as the beam hit the wall/ground behind them and exploded, sending a shock wave that launched them up and apparently undid the gravity change as the found themselves falling towards the actual floor and landed on the table that was in the center.

**"Took your time didn't you?"** A dark yet familiar voice said. Minato and Chess looked and saw a figure standing with his back to them. **"I apologize, but I grew impatient, so I...sped things up."**

"You nearly killed us!" Chess shouted.

**"I know, but what makes you think that wasn't part of the endgame?"** The figure said as he turned around, surprising Chess and Minato.

"You-you look like-" Chess began.

**"Like you? Maybe it's you who looks like me."** The other Chess sneered. The only difference between the two was that the second one had yellow eyes and snow-white hair along with a chess piece earring in the opposite ear that was also white.

"You're his heartless." Minato pointed out.

**"Close, so, so close. Once, I was merely an accumulation of the memories he lost and was losing. However, I became a heartless and then... something just a bit more. I became a heartless with potential."**

"Potential for what?"

**"Why, to become real of course. I contain almost every single memory my shell of an original has. All I have to do now is destroy him and absorb his body. With that I'll become more than just memories and darkness. So, much more."** The other Chess gave a sickening laugh.

"No way will I let that happen!" Minato shouted as he summoned his keyblade.

**"As much as I'd like to have a wonderful bout with you, I must go now. Court will be in session soon. Wouldn't want to keep the Queen waiting now."** The heartless Chess. replied as with a wave of his hands heartless began to appear. **"Ta-ta for now."** The other Chess said and ran down a passageway in the corner of the room.

"Tch." Minato said as he began to deal with the heartless. Before these guys would be a cakewalk given they're nothing but Shadows, Soldiers, and one Large Body, but the last of his skills really started to show as the Soldiers began to outmaneuver him. He turn to see the Large Body slam into him, sending him across the table. Minato tried to get up, but was struggling even with that.

"Ice Form: Rook!" A shout came. Suddenly ice in the shape of a large golem with a crown resembling the top of a rook chess piece appeared in front of Minato, blocking the heartless' attacks. Turning, he saw Chess with his hands out. "Fire Form: Knight!" The rook shattered and fire began to swirl around, taking the form of a warrior on horseback. The horseman began to attack the heartless, cutting, piercing, and burning them. However, just as it took out the Large Body, a couple of Soldiers pounced from behind and struck the knight, extinguishing it before setting their sights on Chess.

"Oh no you don't!" Minato shouted as he quickly got up and took down the three Soldiers. The remaining heartless began shrinking back into darkness as they ran away. "That's right, you better run!"

"That was exhausting." Chess said, panting a bit.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me you could do that?" Minato asked.

"Caused I just remembered. Seems like meeting my other got me to remember how I fought." Chess said rather suspiciously. "Now let's go. I feel like remembering everything now."

Minato smiled as they jumped off the table and ran after Chess' double. They came to a garden which led to what Minato presumed to be the 'court.' Continuing down, they saw Chess' heartless leaning against the side smirking.

"There you are! Now, give me my-" Chess began.

**"Order! Order! Court is now in session!"** A woman shouted from the judge's seat, but it was too high up for me to properly make out who. **"Good. The defendants are here. Please speak the crimes committed against you."**

**"Of course, Queen."** Chess' heartless said. **"Attempted murder and the refusal to recognize my superiority."**

"What? You aren't human! How is that murder?!" Minato shouted back.

**"Silence!"** The woman shouted. **"Now, the first crime I'm willing to overlook, but the second I honestly am not surprised it was you, Minato, who did so."**

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Minato said, confused.

**"Exactly what I mean. You never respected my superiority, always thought you were better. You never trusted me!"** The judge's podium suddenly shrank down and Minato could clearly see who it was. Red hair, white blouse, and a big, red ribbon. Her appearance is familiar, but the yellow eyes weren't.

_Crap, this is another of my memory heartless, isn't it?_

_"Definitely."_

_And it's going to be like last time, isn't it?_

_"Probably."_

_Let's just get this over with then._

"Save your rant for later. I'm kicking your ass now." Minato said, pointing his keyblade at the woman.

**"Even now, you show no respect for me. You always thought I had an unnatural desire for power and control, didn't you? Well here's the power I achieved!"** Suddenly a dark wave of energy exploded out, knocking Minato and Chess back. Getting up, Minato noticed how it was a couple degrees colder. Looking, he saw the new form his now obvious memory heartless took. It was wearing a feminine suit of armor while also wearing a long black dress. In one hand she wielded a rapier while in the other she had a mallet with spikes on both ends. On her head was a golden crown that seemed to glow in some kind of vanity.

**"The verdict has been declared! Execution!"** The heartless cried out as with a slice of her sword it sent a wave of ice towards Minato.

"Hold on Minato!" Chess cried out, but a barrier stopped him.

**"Hold up, did you really think you'd get out of your fight with me?"** The Heartless Chess sneered. Chess turned once again to face his Heartless.

"I don't know who you really are, but I need to save my friend!" A small red sphere appeared in Chess' hand. "Fire Form: Explosion!" The red sphere split into three others as Heartless Chess mirrored his movements except the spheres he threw were a light blue.

**"Ice Form: Explosion!"** The six spheres met midair and erupted in a powerful explosion of flames and ice.

Back to Minato's fight...

Minato dodged as Ice Queen (as Minato had dubbed her) slammed her mallet against the ground, causing ice spires to shoot up from the ground. Minato had to hop around quite a few times to avoid losing his manhood.

**"You always disrespected me! I was never your leader, was I?!"** This Heartless seemed even more pissed off than the last.

The armor-wearing Heartless tried to stab at Minato with its rapier, creating a large fissure right in front of him. "Listen, if being a leader means so much to you, you clearly have issues!" What Minato failed to notice was the chain that had been moving underneath him, quickly snaking around until it fully wrapped around his body and holding him in the air.

**"Your sentence will be carried out as soon as the other is duly executed."** The Heartless stated with its usual air of authority.

"Uh...Chess! I could use a little help at the moment!"

"Kinda busy!" The usually crybaby-teen replied. He leaped to the left as another explosion hit the spot where Chess had just been standing.

_Damn! I'm in the soup now!_

_"All we can do is hope Chess wins..."_

_So we place our trust in someone we don't even know?_

_"Essentially."_

_...Fair enough._

Back to Chess' fight...

Things were not going well for him at the moment. Every time he tried using an attack, his Heartless double mimicked it perfectly, often the exchange ending in Chess being the only one injured.

**"Ready to surrender the position of 'the Real Chess'?"**

"When Hell freezes over!" Chess once again held out his hands. "Earth Form: Trios Pawns!" Three hands made out of earthen material burst out of the ground and began to claw their way out.

They only stopped when their bodies were completely above ground. They were relatively small compared to the other golems chess had summoned, but they made up for that with their quantity. The three pawns charged toward the Heartless.

**"Pathetic. No wonder you couldn't protect Lady Alyssa!"** Chess froze at the name the Heartless threw out. This gave the Heartless all of the opportunity it needed.

**"Wind Form: Quad Pawns!"** Wind began to build up around a certain point of the battlefield. It eventually swirled into vaguely humanoid forms. The four charged and met Chess' pawns head on, three completely destroying the other three. Chess began to run away as the fourth came for him. A blue sphere formed in his hands.

"Water Form: Aqua Barrage!" The blue sphere exploded, releasing four spears of water that pierced the golem in four different area.

**"Too slow!"** Chess turned too slowly as he felt his Heartless duplicate deliver two kicks to his back, knocking him forward. Chess rolled forward before recovering and leaping to his feet.

Chess bared his teeth in anger. "Just what are you hiding from me?! Who the Hell am I?!" He was aware Minato was depending on him, but Chess' head had exploded with a pain whenever he thought about the name Heartless Chess mentioned, Lady Alyssa.

**"Are you sure?"** The Heartless' dark and cheery tone was replaced by one that reeked of mystery and sorrow. **"Down the path of remembrance lays nothing but pain and sorrow. Regret and failure. Is this the past you wish to remember? It would be so much simpler to let someone else take your place and the pain for you."**

For just a moment, Chess' resolve faded. The name Alyssa filled him with so much sorrow, so much regret. He didn't even have all of his memories back. Would it be any better if he did?

"Don't listen to him!" Chess looked to Minato, who was still struggling to break free from his chains. Chess just stared sadly. "Chess, if you listen, you'll truly be weak!" It was then that he decided to truly listen to Minato's words.

"Listen! I can't guarantee that you'll like what you find at the end of the road, but if you don't follow the path all the way to the end, it will always be your biggest regret! Your biggest 'what if'!" Minato took a few deep breaths. For some reason, the Heartless holding him captive did nothing to stop him. "Sometimes...you gotta keep walking down the path you take, even if it leads you to oblivion..."

**"Don't bother wasting your breath on this weakling. He...We failed to protect the one person whom we cared about...He deserves whatever sorrow he feels."**

Chess stared at the ground sadly. "I..."

**"Enough! It's time to end this! Fire Form: Inferno!"** A larger than normal red sphere appeared in his hand. **"Die!"** He threw it at Chess and it quickly erupted in a gigantic inferno as it began to envelop Chess.

Minato's eyes widened. "Chess!"

Heartless Chess merely smirked. **"A weakling to the bitter end. As expected..."**

"I am no weakling!" The smirk quickly vanished as a familiar silhouette appeared in the midst of the flames. "Meet one of my more powerful Ice Forms." The flames opened up to reveal Chess along with a larger golem made out of ice. It was much smoother and more well shaped than the other lower ranked golems. It had a feminine shape and wielded a scythe made out of pure ice. A tiara on its head. Chess held a fiery determination in his eyes despite his injuries. "Meet Ice Form: Queen."

His Heartless grinned. **"Anything you can do, I can do better!"** He held out his hands. **"Fire Form-"** He was unable to finish that sentence as Chess delivered a mean right hook to his Heartless' face. He flew rather far.

"That's your problem." Chess stated calmly. "You're nothing but a copycat. You don't have a single original thought."

This pissed off the Heartless. **"Oh really? Then let's see how 'original' I can be!"** The Heartless held out his hands. **"Earth Form: Knight!"** An earthen warrior on horseback appeared out of the ground in front of Heartless Chess. **"I'll show you ORIGINAL!"**

The knight charged at Chess who paid it little attention. He simply gestured to it and the queen nodded, understanding his order. The queen charged her scythe readied. The two statues passed one another, swinging their individual weapons. When the knight came out of the encounter, its head split from its body, slowly falling to the ground. The queen simply remained stationary.

**"Grrr! HOW?!"**

"Like this." whispered a voice behind him. Heartless Chess was unable to react as Chess delivered a good kick to his back, knocking him forward. Heartless Chess attempted to regain his footing, but Chess prepared to end things once and for all. He held out his hands as three orbs, each of differing colors, appeared. "Triple Elements...Thunder, wind, and flame unite...Fusion Form: Wind/Thunder Flamethrower!" The three spheres combined into one as the one fused orb began to shine a brilliant light. It quickly exploded in a stream of different colors that quickly enveloped Heartless Chess entirely.

His hellish shrieks were all that were heard of him as he vanished, leaving only his white, chess piece earring behind.

Back to Minato's fight...

Minato watched the entire exchange, his curiosity increasing with each moment passed. He smiled as Chess eventually came out on top, his Heartless duplicate being burned to cinders. He knew what Chess would do next before he did. Seeing no other choices, Chess walked up to the white chess piece that was all that remained of Heartless Chess and picked it up.

Minato could tell when Chess went wide-eyed that he was experiencing every last memory that had been contained. At some points, Chess' face would brighten as if experiencing something happy while at other times it would darken as if experiencing something sad. By the end of it, he just seemed tired. Not in an emotional or mental kind of way. He looked as if he was ready to take a nap then and there.

**"Very well.****" **stated the remaining Heartless, almost bored. **"One execution has been carried out. Now to carry out the other."** She looked down to the imprisoned Minato with an ICY stare.**  
**

"Hey! STUPID RED-HEAD HEARTLESS!" Both Minato and the Heartless gave Chess a disbelieving stare.

**"WHO DARES-"**

"I think I do!" shouted Chess. "What kind of crappy leader were you?!"

**"What?!"**

"I mean, if you want to kill someone just because they don't view you as a leader, you must've been not only a a terrible leader, but also the worst friend ever!" The Heartless clamped its hands over what must've been its ears.

**"Silence!"**

"I can't say I've known Minato that long, but as far as I'm concerned, he's one of the nicest people in the universe and would never disrespect a REAL good leader!"

**"I said-"**

"Not to mention that you've done nothing but try to hurt him! What kind of leader are you?!" Minato froze as a strange feeling filled his chest. He wasn't able to decipher what it was until he noticed something on the Heartless' cheeks (or what would pass for cheeks)...Tears. It was crying.

**"Shut up!"**

"No! As far as anyone else is concerned, you are probably the most pathetic leader in existence!" As if sensing her pain and uncertainty, the Heartless' form shimmered before reverting back to its previous form of the red-haired girl. More tears poured down the sides of her face. Minato felt sorrow as she fell to her knees, trying to fight off the sorrow she felt. The chain around Minato loosened and fell to the ground. It soon vanished into a dark mist.

The Heartless buried her face into her hands.

**"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! PLEASE, JUST SHUT UP!"**

"And not to mention-"

"Don't you dare say another word against Mitsuru, you asshole!" The most surprised out of all three was Minato...but then again. Chess didn't seem very surprised. It wasn't that Minato had spoken up for a Heartless, but because he remembered the name of who it represented. He surprised himself even more by walking over and kneeling by the Heartless' side. "Mitsuru Kirijo...we...we were friends...I remember that..." The Heartless barely looked up at Minato.

**"It...It's true...No wonder you never saw me as a leader...I'm so pathetic..."  
**

Minato didn't cease to surprise himself as he quickly wrapped his arms around the Heartless. The Heartless blushed slightly as she simply sunk into Minato's arms. "That's not true..." Heartless Mitsuru tensed. "While it's true...I do remember at times you wavered or seemed to be hiding things from us, but it's normal to have some weaknesses..."

**"Minato..."**

"Hell...Everyone has their weaknesses. Even me. But we, everyone who fought together...I know I we fought together once with others including Yukari..." He felt warm saying the two names he did remember. "we all covered each others weaknesses. That's what made us so strong..." Heartless Mitsuru stopped crying to just stare at Minato. "But you are right about one thing...I never did see you as a leader..." Heartless Mitsuru shrunk a little, expecting the answer. "I didn't see you as a leader...I saw you as a friend..."

Heartless Mitsuru's eyes widened in surprise as they began to water again. **"Minato..."**

Minato smiled softly. "I don't need memories to know that you were my friend, Mitsuru."

**"Minato..."** Before Minato could gather his thoughts, Mitsuru wrapped her arms around Minato's neck, crying into his chest once more. The Heartless began to shrink in size and form. When her transformation was done, she had curly pigtails, a red ribbon with a green gem, a white fluffy blouse, a red skirt, white stockings, and brown shoes. She appeared to be no older than ten.

"No matter what...even if you were the most incompetent leader in the world, you'll always be my friend, Mitsuru." The child-like Mitsuru smiled at Minato, blushing lightly.

"Minato...I love you."

Minato nodded. "Yeah-Wait! WHAT?!" The child Mitsuru giggled at Minato's confusion and embarrassment as the child began to radiate a powerful light. Minato shielded his eyes as the light enveloped all within its reach.

When the light cleared, all that remained was an orb in which a set of keys was contained. They dropped into Minato's hands before vanishing into the depths of his soul.

Images began to pass through his mind. Not images just of Mitsuru, but others. People from adventures both present and past. People he had known before a certain point in time. Ken, Akihiko, Mitsuru, and several others.

At some point, it hurt a little, but it felt warm at the same time...He was remembering people who were once close to him.

"I promise...I won't ever forget you guys again..." Minato then stood from his spot on the ground and turned toward Chess, who was busy taking a nap, leaning against a nearby tree.

Minato took a deep breath. He then delivered a kick to Chess' stomach. "WAKE UP!" Chess leaped to his feet, an annoyed expression on his face.

"What the Hell man? I was just (Yawns) taking a nap." Minato stared at Chess suspiciously.

"Tell me honestly. Did you plan all that just now? The stuff between me and the Heartless?" Chess grinned slyly.

"Everything right down to that cute little confession of hers." Minato blushed slightly.

"Y-You saw that?"

"No. You just told me about it."

"...Your injuries are the only reasons I'm not kicking your ass right now."

Chess grinned again. Minato threw one of Chess' arms over his shoulder.

"Come on, jackass. We need to get you to a point where we can rest. Then it's the simple matter of going down and getting you out." Chess frowned.

"And why are we doing that?"

Minato blinked at the odd question. "Well...you got your memories back...so there's not much reason to stick around here anymore, right?" Chess put on mock offended expression.

"And leave my best buddy to fend for himself? As if." Minato stared. "You scratch my back, I scratch yours." Still staring. "We friends stick together."

Minato sighed with an annoyed expression on his face. "You're too nice for your own good." Chess' eyes began to water.

Waterfalls poured out of his eyes. "You're so nice for saying that!"

"HEY! WATCH IT! Not on the shirt, dude!"

"I'M SO SORRY!" This was followed by more sobs.

"AH! DON'T WIPE YOUR NOSE ON MY SHIRT!"

"SORRY!"

"Don't apologize! Just stop! GAAAAAAAH!"

* * *

It took a few hours, but the two friends finally reached the end gate.

"Well, just through the door and on to the next floor." Chess, who had taken to walking on his own, laid a hand on Minato's shoulder.

"Can we talk?" Minato raised an eyebrow.

"About what?" Chess walked around and leaned against a nearby tree.

"Pasts and memories." Minato sensed Chess becoming uncharacteristically serious. Minato nodded.

"Does this have something to do with that name the Heartless said...Lady Alyssa?" Chess tensed for just a moment, but nodded. "I get the feeling she wasn't just any girl..."

Chess chuckled halfheartedly. "Nothing gets passed you...Lady Alyssa...otherwise known as the White Queen." Minato almost choked on the word 'Queen'. "She was my light...my everything...I was her ever loyal guardian..." It was by that point that Minato noticed that Chess' earring was different. It had been replaced with a WHITE chess piece. "I was the White Guardian...We were both deeply in love with one another. Whenever someone or something threatened her, I would always race to her defense. She also had a heart of gold. She put up with whatever life threw her way...she was so beautiful...inside AND out."

Minato was almost afraid to ask. "What happened?" Chess' expression darkened.

"While I could defeat any outside enemy who dared threaten her...the enemies inside her were another story..."

"She was sick?" interpreted Minato. Chess nodded.

"She always had incredibly poor health, but still found a way to smile each and every day. She always bounced back though no matter how bad she got...but then one day..." His eyes twitched, fighting back tears. "...she didn't bounce back." He wiped his eyes.

Minato nodded, waiting for Chess to continue.

"She...I held her in my arms while she laid dying and I couldn't do a damn thing to protect her...I couldn't do anything for her..."

"That's not true." Interrupted Minato. Chess stared sadly at Minato. "If you were both in love, then you made sure that her last moments were her best just by being here. That was the most any other person could do...but it doesn't answer why you're here in this castle."

Chess sighed. "After Lady Alyssa's death...I spiraled deep into my own sorrow, eventually being overcome by it...I didn't even realize when I was swallowed by the darkness...Then I woke up in this castle with no memories..."

Minato stretched his arms as he stood. "In that case, we'll have to kick that coat-wearing bastard's ass twice as hard." He gave Chess a hand to help him up.

"Agreed." Chess said, a small smile on his face. They faced the exit together. "Let's go." Minato nodded. Together they plunged through the open door and into the next floor.

* * *

Naminé felt like an intruder. She had been forced to watch the blue-haired boy's quest through Castle Oblivion by her guest (Read: Captor).

It felt wrong as she listened to his companion's sad and so personal story. But that person made her watch anyway.

"Don't feel bad. Things will work out in the end." Naminé didn't have to turn to figure out who it is. "After all, you gave him that big head-start without my permission."

Naminé tensed, expecting some sort of punishment, but nothing came.

"But I'm a forgiving person. I'm even forgiving _that woman_ for interfering with my plan right now." Naminé froze before she quickly turned back to the orb on the table.

The room the blue and white-haired teens had entered had a third occupant. A feminine figure wearing a black coat.

"She's certainly not on my side. She must be here for other reasons." He clarified, his unseen expression becoming serious. "This shall be the most serious out of all of the tests thus far. And all we can do is watch."

Naminé watched, silently praying for the blue-haired friend of Sora's.

* * *

Minato drew his keyblade and Chess readied his Form attacks as they spotted the feminine figure in the middle of the room wearing the black coat.

She was so motionless, she could've been mistaken for a statue.

"Tell me! Are you with that other Nobody?!" he asked. The coat-wearing woman remained silent. Chess raised an eyebrow.

"Is she asleep?" Minato cracked his knuckles.

"She better not be. HEY LADY!" The cloak-wearing woman still gave no response. "That's it-"

"...why...?" Minato almost tripped as he was taken by surprise.

"What?" The woman then pulled her hood back. Minato's eyes widened as anger flooded his heart. She was a fairly young woman (no older than 20) with shoulder-length violet hair and the only difference was that her eyes were a dark blue color this time.

Minato resummoned his keyblade. "Akumu!" Chess was immediately put on guard.

"You know her?" Minato nodded.

"But what is she doing here?!" But the Minato realized something. Her eyes were BLUE. Not yellow like last time.

"...Why...?" Minato glared.

"Why what? Why did I kick your ass for hurting my sister?!" He became even more unsure as he noticed something else. Akumu's eyes held nothing but sorrow. Chess also seemed to notice this as he appeared to be waiting for Minato's order to attack.

Chess and Minato both tensed as Akumu(?) seemed to vanish. Minato tried to raise his keyblade as Akumu(?) appeared in front of him, but she forced it toward the ground.

Nobody else saw what was coming. Akumu(?) leaned in...and pressed her lips against Minato's. Minato's face turned a deep shade of red and Chess' jaw dropped.

_What the Hell is going on?! Voice?_

_"..."_ There was no response from the voice, but Minato could sense a strange sadness emanating from the depths of his soul.

_...Isn't this illegal?_

Before Minato could make up his mind, Akumu(?) pulled away, the sadness in her voice not diminishing just a bit.

"Why..._Why did you betray me?_"

**All done! I hope you all enjoyed! I also apologize for taking so long to update! But yeah. A lot of crap went down in this chapter. Since I never liked Chain of Memories, don't expect it to be any longer than 7-10 chapters. But yeah. Just why is Akumu acting so differently? What connection does she have with Minato?  
**

**Oh yeah. I'm also accepting character ideas that should be added from other video games. As long as the character isn't lame. Ah...video game crossovers...it's not a full crossover since this is Kingdom Hearts. I can make up some BS about alternate worlds and it's all good.**

**I thank you all for the reads and reviews!**

**Bye-Bye!**


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